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Overview

This guide walks you through creating your first service, setting up a template, and sending a notification using GOV.UK Notify Admin. You’ll learn the essential workflows that every service owner needs to know.
All new services start in trial mode, which restricts sending to team members and guest list recipients only. You can request to go live once you’ve tested your service.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:
  • A GOV.UK Notify Admin account with verified email address
  • Access to a mobile phone for two-factor authentication (SMS or WebAuthn)
  • Appropriate permissions for your intended actions

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Create your first service

1

Register and sign in

Navigate to the GOV.UK Notify Admin platform and sign in with your credentials. You’ll need to complete two-factor authentication using SMS, email, or WebAuthn.The platform supports three authentication methods:
  • Email authentication - Click a link sent to your email
  • SMS authentication - Enter a code sent via text message
  • WebAuthn - Use a hardware security key or biometric authentication
2

Create a new service

From your dashboard, click “Add a new service” and provide:
  • Service name - Choose a clear, descriptive name for your service
  • Organization type - Select from central government, local government, NHS, emergency service, school/college, or other
Your service will be created in trial mode with default limits:
  • 50 messages per day across all channels
  • 100 international SMS limit
  • Email, SMS, and letter permissions enabled
3

Configure service settings

Navigate to Settings to configure your service:Service details
  • Service name and contact information
  • Email sender name (customizable local part)
  • Contact link (URL, email, or phone number for recipients)
Message limits
  • Email message limit: 250,000 (live services)
  • SMS message limit: 250,000 (live services)
  • Letter message limit: 20,000 (live services)
Permissions
  • Email, SMS, and letter channels
  • International SMS capability
  • International letter support
  • Inbound SMS for two-way messaging
  • SMS to UK landlines
4

Add team members

Invite team members to collaborate on your service:
  1. Go to Settings > Team members
  2. Click “Invite user”
  3. Enter their email address and select permissions:
    • Manage settings, team and usage - Full service control
    • Manage templates - Create and edit templates
    • Send messages - Send notifications
    • View activity - Read-only dashboard access
    • Manage API integration - Create and manage API keys
  4. Choose authentication method (SMS or email)
  5. Optionally assign folder permissions for template organization
Team members receive an invitation email valid for 48 hours. They must have a GOV.UK Notify account to accept.

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Create your first template

Templates are reusable message formats with placeholders for personalized content.
1

Navigate to templates

From your service dashboard, click “Templates” in the navigation menu.
2

Choose template type

Click “New template” and select:
  • Email - For electronic mail with optional file attachments
  • Text message - For SMS (limited to 918 characters)
  • Letter - For physical mail via Royal Mail
3

Design your template

For email templates:
Subject: Your appointment confirmation

Hi ((name)),

Your appointment is confirmed for ((date)) at ((time)).

Location: ((location))

If you need to cancel, please call us on 0300 123 4567.
For SMS templates:
GOV.UK Notify: Your appointment is on ((date)) at ((time)). Location: ((location)). To cancel, call 0300 123 4567.
For letter templates: Letters require postal address fields and support multiple pages. The system automatically calculates postage costs based on page count and postage class.
Use double parentheses ((variable)) for placeholders. Common placeholders include name, email address, phone number, and custom fields.
4

Preview and save

Use the live preview to test your template with sample data:
  • View character count (SMS has a 918-character limit)
  • See page count estimate for letters
  • Check personalization rendering
Once satisfied, save your template. You can edit it later, and the platform maintains version history.

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Send your first notification

You can send notifications one at a time or in batches using CSV upload.

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Send a single message

1

Select template

From your dashboard or templates page, click on the template you want to use, then click “Send”.
2

Enter recipient details

Provide the recipient information:
  • Email: Enter the email address
  • SMS: Enter the mobile number (UK format: 07700 900000)
  • Letter: Complete all address lines (line 1-7)
3

Fill in placeholders

Enter values for any placeholder variables in your template. The preview updates in real-time.
4

Send immediately or schedule

Choose to send now or schedule for a future date and time. Click “Send” to dispatch your notification.

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Send batch messages via CSV

For sending to multiple recipients, use CSV upload:
1

Prepare your CSV file

Create a CSV file with required columns:Email CSV example:
email address,name,date,time,location
[email protected],John Smith,15 March,2:30pm,Room 101
SMS CSV example:
phone number,name,reference
07700900321,Jane Doe,REF123
Letter CSV example:
address line 1,address line 2,address line 3,postcode,name
A. Name,123 Example Street,London,SW1A 1AA,Alice Brown
In trial mode, you can only send to team members and guest list recipients. Add test recipients to your guest list in Settings > API integration > Guest list.
2

Upload and validate

  1. Select your template and click “Send”
  2. Upload your CSV file
  3. The platform validates:
    • Column headers match template requirements
    • Email addresses are valid format
    • Phone numbers are valid UK numbers
    • Required address fields are present
    • File size is within limits
3

Review and confirm

Review the upload summary:
  • Number of messages to send
  • Estimated cost (for SMS and letters)
  • Preview of first few messages
For letters, you’ll see:
  • Page count per letter
  • Postage class (first class, second class, economy, international)
  • Total postage cost
4

Send or schedule

Choose to:
  • Send immediately
  • Schedule for a specific date and time
Click “Send messages” to create the job. You can track progress in the “Sent messages” section.

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Monitor your notifications

Track the status of your sent notifications:
Your service dashboard shows:
  • 7-day totals - Messages sent, delivered, and failed in the last week
  • Template statistics - Most-used templates with send counts
  • Failure rate warnings - Alerts when failure rate exceeds 3%
  • Upcoming scheduled sends - Jobs waiting to be sent
  • Inbox - Inbound SMS messages (if enabled)

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Set up API access

For programmatic sending, generate API keys:
1

Navigate to API integration

Go to Settings > API integration
2

Create API key

Click “Create an API key” and configure:
  • Key name - Descriptive name for identification
  • Key type:
    • Test - Pretends to send messages (no actual delivery)
    • Team and guest list - Sends only to authorized recipients
    • Live - Sends to anyone (requires live service)
Live keys are only available for services that have completed the go-live process. Test keys should be used during development.
3

Store your key securely

The API key is displayed only once. Store it securely:
export NOTIFY_API_KEY="your-key-here"
Use the key with the GOV.UK Notify Python client or make direct API calls.

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Request to go live

When you’re ready to send to the public:
1

Complete prerequisites

Ensure your service has:
  • Tested sending in trial mode
  • Created templates
  • Invited team members
  • Configured service settings
2

Submit go-live request

Navigate to Settings and click “Request to go live”. Provide:
  • Expected volume estimates (emails, SMS, letters per year)
  • Use case description
  • Target launch date
Your request will be reviewed by the GOV.UK Notify team or your organization’s approval team (if enabled).
3

Approval and activation

Once approved:
  • Trial mode restrictions are removed
  • Message limits increase to production levels
  • Live API keys become available
  • Billing tracking begins (if applicable)

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Next steps

Template best practices

Learn advanced template techniques and optimization

API documentation

Integrate GOV.UK Notify with your applications

User management

Manage team permissions and access control

Architecture overview

Understand the system architecture

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

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